PAVONIA 



red bractlets, which are linear, erect, hairy, whorled, and 

 nearly 2 in. long. Within the cup-shaped group of bract- 

 lets lies a cartridge-shaped mass of dull brown, tightly 

 rolled petals. From the body of petals protrudes the 

 staminzil column, which may be 3 in. long and bears nu- 

 merous violet-blue anthers. 



PEA 



1225 



1656. Pea. American Wonder (X 1-5). 



The illustration shows an entire plant, cut off at the surface 

 of the ground. 



P.Makoyana, Morr.,ot the trade, is Gbethea Makoyana, 

 Hook., B.M. 6427, a Brazilian plant with a dark purple 

 mass of petals set off by about 5 large, broad, showy 

 red bractlets. The only difference between Pavonia and 

 Gcethea lies in the bractlets, which are narrow in the 

 former and broad in the latter. 



P. intermedia, St. Hil., Fig. 1655, is a Brazilian plant 

 int. by the U. S. Dept. of Agric. for economic reasons. 

 Its bractlets are intermediate in breadth between the 

 two genera Pavonia and Gcethea. 



multifldra, A. St. Hil. (P. Wloti, E. Morr.). Robust, 

 probably shrubby, usually with a simple stem: Ivs. alter- 

 nate, 6-10 in. x l%-2 in., obovate-lanceolate, serrulate: 

 fls. in a short, terminal corymb. Brazil. B.M. 6398. F. 

 M. 1877:276. W>M . 



PAWPAW. Asimina and Carica Papaya. 



PEA. The garden Pea is the most important member 

 of the genus Pisum (which see). It is native to Europe, 

 but has been cultivated from before the Christian era 

 for the rich seeds. The field or stock Pea differs little 

 from the garden Pea except in its violet rather than 

 white flowers and its small gray seeds. There are 

 many varieties and several well-marked races of garden 

 Peas. Whilst Peas are grown mostly for their seeds, 

 there is a race in which the thick, soft green pods, with 

 the inclosed seeds, are eaten. The common or shelling 

 Peas may be separated into two classes on the character 

 of the seed itself. those with smooth seeds and those 

 with wrinkled seeds. The latter are the richer, but they 

 are more likely to decay in wet, cold ground, and there- 

 fore are not so well adapted to very early planting. Peas 

 may also be classified as climbing, half-dwarf or show- 

 ing a tendency to climb and doing best when support is 

 provided, and dwarf or those not requiring support. 

 Again, the varieties may be classified as to season, 

 early, second-early, and late; examples of these classes 

 are shown in the pictures, 1656, 1657, 1658, respectively. 



Vilmorin's classification (Les Plantes Potageres) is as 

 follows : 



A. The Pea round (smooth). 

 B. Plant climbing. 

 C. Seed white, 

 cc. Seed green. 

 BB. Plant half -dwarf. 



c. Seed white, 

 cc. Seed green. 

 BBB. Plant dwarf. 



c. Seed white, 

 cc. Seed green. 

 AA. The Pea wrinkled (divisions as above). 



The Chinese gardeners about New York city grow a 

 Pea which is described as follows by the writer in Bull 

 67, Cornell Exp. Sta. : "The Pea (Ga-lon-ow) of the 

 Chinese gardens behaves like a little improved or per- 

 haps ancient type of the common Pea. It is the same 

 species as ours. It differs chiefly in having somewhat 

 knotty or constricted pods, as shown in the illustration 

 (Fig. 1659). The pods 'shell' very hard, and there is a 

 tendency to develop a broad border or margin along 

 the lower side. The Peas are small and are variable 

 in color, and they generally turn dark in cooking. In 

 quality they are sweet and excellent, but they do not 

 possess any superiority over our common varieties. 

 The seeds which we have obtained from the New York 

 Chinamen are mixed. In color, the Peas run from nearly 

 white to dark brown. The brown seeds, however, have 

 given us much earlier pickings than the light ones. In 

 one instance the seeds were sorted into three grades- 

 light, medium light, and dark brown and all were 

 planted in sandy soil on the 20th of April. On the 5th 

 of July the dark-seeded plot gave a good picking, while 

 the light-seeded, and even the medium plots produced 

 much taller plants and very few of the pods had begun 

 to fill. The dark- and medium-seeded plots produced 

 plants with colored flowers the standard being rose- 

 purple and the keel black-purple and splashed. The 

 light-colored seeds, on the other hand, gave pure white 

 flowers, larger leaves and broader pods. These facts 

 are interesting in connection with the evolution of the 

 garden Pea and its relationship to the red-flowered field 

 Pea." 



Left to themselves, the varieties of Peas soon lose 

 their characteristics through variation. They are much 



1657. Pea. Nott Excelsior (X %). 



influenced by soil and other local conditions. There- 

 fore, many of the varieties are only minor strains of 

 some leading type, and are not distinct enough to be 



